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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (aka TMNT) was a monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports that competed from 2003 to 2012. While the truck was based on the cartoon superhero team of the same name, the design was based specifically on member Raphael, though fellow member Michelangelo did appear as a body in 2006. It was one of the longest-running sponsor trucks, standing at nearly 10 consecutive years of competition. The truck was also run for many teams such as Racesource and Randy Brown Motorsports. History On August 16, 2003, TMNT unofficially debuted at a show in Hamburg, New York at the Erie County Fair. Later in the year, it made it's official debut at the Olympique Stadium at Montreal, QC. The truck was driven by then rookie George Balhan on the former Mr. Destruction chassis. In 2004, Paul Cohen took over driving duties for TMNT's first full season and toured the truck with Charlie Pauken's Grave Digger. Paul would later take the truck to its first World Finals appearance at the Monster Jam World Finals 5. After the World Finals, Brandon Harrington then took over the truck. Bryan Winston drove the truck for the European Tour. In 2005, the team expanded to two trucks after a successful first year in competition. Harrington would continue to drive his truck as the teammate to Gary Porter while the second truck would be driven by Alex Blackwell. Blackwell would drive his version for Randy Brown Motorsports and toured with team owner, Randy Brown. In 2006, a slight body change was introduced to differentiate the two trucks. Blackwell's truck kept the original red bandana (Raphael) while Harrington ran an orange bandana (Michaelangelo). At the World Finals, Randy Brown would pilot TMNT as a fill in for Madusa after she left Monster Jam. For overseas events, George Balhan took over the truck. In 2007, both trucks received new drivers. Derek Evans was placed in the red banded TMNT while Whit Tarlton took over the orange truck. Their teammate remained the same being Randy Brown and Gary Porter, respectively. Brown once again took the truck to the World Finals. After the said event, Frank Krmel took over Evans' ride. Alex Blackwell was also given the nod to drive the truck for the European Tour. In 2008, only one TMNT truck was campaigned, this time under Team Racesource. Aaron Basl and Ryan Huffaker shared the seat of the truck and served as the teammate to Pablo Huffaker. The truck did not compete at the World Finals; however, it appeared inbetween racing rounds and the Encore driven by Randy Brown. In 2009, the truck retained its two drivers sharing the wheel. Pablo Huffaker would compete with the truck at the World Finals. In 2010, Aaron and Ryan again shared the seat while Pablo would compete at the World Finals. John Seasock took the truck to the European Tour. In late 2011, Joey Parnell became the trucks primary driver and drove the truck for Randy Brown Motorsports. In 2012, Parnell would take the truck to the Monster Jam World Finals 13 Young Guns Shootout as a fill in for Todd LeDuc and Metal Mulisha. This would be TMNT's final event as the sponsorship expired. Parnell would then move to Superman. Hot Wheels TMNT’s true life began in the Hot Wheels Monster Jam 2003 line, almost concurrently to Balhan’s Montreal debut of the real-life truck. Hot Wheels would produce all four core turtles (Raphael and Michelangelo as run in real life, along with Leonardo and Donatello) over the years. In stark contrast to the real truck, the Hot Wheels tool had a far sleeker design that featured the TMNT logo on the sides and hood, a different shell pattern, a more olive green color, and no realistic windshield. The FoxBox logo could be found on the lower shell in releases from 2003-10, until it was removed in 2011. TMNT had a SpectraFlame release in 2009 and a muddy release in 2011. A cancelled Shoxx version was scheduled for 2007. The truck would be rereleased in various colors until 2014. World Finals Appearances *2004 - Paul Cohen *2006 - Randy Brown *2007 - Randy Brown *2009 - Pablo Huffaker *2010 - Pablo Huffaker *2011 - Pablo Huffaker *2012 - Joey Parnell (YGS) Trivia * TMNT was supposed to debut at Monster Jam World Finals 4; however, due to the 3D body, the truck wouldn't debut until exactly 7 months and 3 days later. * According to Alex Blackwell's interview with noted TMNT fansite Cowabunga Corner, the Leonardo and Donatello bodies were intended to be run by him in the 2005 season, with fans speculating years later that he was intended to start running the bodies after the show in Indianapolis. * The truck's teeth were notably the same used on the El Toro Loco and Bulldozer trucks. * Much like Monster Mutt, the truck was notorious for having a limited field of vision due to its unique windshield design. * Aside from its debut show and European appearances, TMNT ran exclusively as a B truck for several Grave Digger drivers. Gary Porter's touring partner would run the truck on a Clear Channel-owned Patrick chassis, while Randy Brown and Pablo Huffaker ran the body on their respective second trucks. * TMNT holds the distinction of being a last-minute replacement for World Finals events not once, but twice. * The truck's theme song was the intro for the 2003 4Kids animated series, that the truck was created to promote. * Neil Elliott drove the truck on Max-D 2 on two occasions. Gallery turtle2.jpg|On display for the first time in 2003 turtle1.jpg|Ditto Ninjaz210.jpg|TMNT circa 2003 Screenshot 20190305-170745.jpg|TMNT's unseen portion of its 2004 World Finals freestyle 850b.jpg|An earlier version of TMNT on a Meents chassis Screenshot_20190305-170904.jpg File:Unnsdfcsdfdsfamed.png|TMNT in Belgium 2004, with Superman's wheels File:Airborne monster trucks by deltamu.jpg|Ditto, racing against Nokia N-GAGE in it's only appearance 280.jpg|Raphael TMNT in 2006 IMG 9719.jpg Destninja210a1.jpg|The Michelangelo TMNT in 2006 File:Wheelie tmnt.jpg|Orange TMNT Nija207a.jpg DSCN3482.jpg|Circa 2006 Allmgboromj07028.jpg|Orange TMNT on a patrick chassis 28398ba9-5aa1-46d8-828c-5028c6c79c95.jpg|On Grave Digger 19, circa World Finals 9, in 2008 Th_(17).jpeg|On Grave Digger 16, circa World Finals 10, in 2009 163015_1437384189736_3808339_n.jpg Screenshot_20190310-172050.jpg|Circa 2010 26815_114992221860795_978323_n.jpg|with purple wheels in 2010 Tmnt monster truck by hansomedadude-d4yvek5.jpg|On Iron Man in 2010 TMNT.jpg|TMNT circa 2011 tmntfox.jpg|TMNT with a FoxBox logo on the shell. This photo was taken in 2011, 6 years after the block was renamed to 4Kids TV (which had also ended in 2008). It is likely old body pieces were accidentally used Bmoist detroit jan12 170.jpg|TMNT circa 2012 Tmntrc.jpg|Tyco R/C 2c02e109bad945e5ffc94d1f14eada89.jpg|Red TMNT Hot Wheels toy 2004-1 16-TMNT Orange (2).jpg|Orange TMNT Hot Wheels toy 2013 TMNT Orange (2).jpg|Orange TMNT Hot Wheels toy with the 80's logo 2010 43-TMNT Blue.jpg|Blue TMNT with concept art in the bottom right corner $ 57-14.JPG|Purple TMNT with 2003 concept art 2005 17-TMNT Purple.jpg|Purple TMNT in 2005. Note the concept art is incorrectly colored blue instead of purple speedemon.jpg|Red TMNT Speed Demon. Versions with other colored bandanas were also released tmnt_plush.jpg|Plush Truck, which resembles the Hot Wheels toy more than the actual truck tmntlogo.jpg|Logo; never appeared on the truck itself, was mostly used for promotional material and toys. The 80's cartoon logo was used for 2012 after 4Kids dropped the TMNT license. Screenshot_20190917-072142_Gallery.jpg|Leonardo render Screenshot 20190917-072130 Gallery.jpg|Donatello render Screenshot 20190917-072250 Gallery.jpg Category:Retired Trucks Category:FELD Motorsports Category:Trucks Category:Hot Wheels Trucks Category:Sponsor trucks Category:Animal-Based Trucks Category:Racesource Category:Randy Brown Motorsports Category:T.V./Movie-Based Trucks Category:Team Meents (team) Category:Trucks that debuted in 2003 Category:American Trucks Category:Custom Body Trucks